By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
LSU broke out the bats, and a pair of freshmen delivered strong performances on the mound as the Tigers knocked off a game McNeese club, 10-3, on Tuesday.
After five straight games of feeble offense, LSU (32-6, 10-5) pounced for three runs in the first inning against the visiting Cowboys. Jared Jones shook off his rough weekend at Auburn by launching a two-run shot over the wall in rightcenter.
He needed that.
William Schmidt was in total control through three innings before a bumpy fourth. But his early-game command was exceptional. Maverick Rizy dominated McNeese with an array of tight sliders and fastballs touching 98 mph. He fired 2.2 innings and struck out six.
Mavrick had the magic tonight 🪄 pic.twitter.com/QaUcCPgkao
— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) April 16, 2025
They needed that.
And a three-game losing streaking is over as a huge series with Alabama looms starting Thursday.
LSU needed that.
In the three-run first, Jake Brown added a two-strike RBI single to right field. Jones tacked on to the lead in the second with a whistling single into the gap in leftcenter. It was his second batted ball over 100 mph in two innings.
Schmidt had set down seven straight Cowboys and was cruising before he fell behind a couple of good hitters who made him pay. Marcus Heusohn stroked a double high off the wall in right field on a 2-0 pitch. Larry Edwards Jr. followed by lifting a 3-0 pitch the opposite way and just inside the foul pole in right field for a two-run homer. That cut the Tiger lead to 4-2 and marred what was a really encouraging outing by Schmidt.
Rizy’s outing was his best as a Tiger. His command was sharp. Thirty-one of his 41 pitches were strikes. He never faced a three-ball count in 10 hitters faced.
LSU picked Schmidt up with a four spot in the bottom of the fourth after McNeese had cut the lead to two. After two were out, five of the next six LSU hitters singled, and Jake Brown reach on an error.
In total the Tigers hammered out 13 hits and walked seven times. It was a shaking of the cobwebs from the weekend in Auburn.
The low point of the night ultimately yielded a high.
Conner Ware struggled mightily with his command. He took over with a runner on first and no one out in the fifth with LSU leading 8-2.
Ware walked the first man he faced on four pitches, induced a fly ball out and then walked the next man on a 3-2 count. Rizy took over from there and hit the first man he saw. Then the lanky freshman buckled down and fanned a pair to escape the bases loaded jam in an 8-3 game.
McNeese never threatened LSU after that, largely thanks to Rizy.
THE SCORECARD
William Schmidt line: 3.1IP, 5H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, 4K, 63 pitches, 40 strikes
Mavrick Rizy line: 2.2IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 6K, 41 pitches, 31 strikes
Cooper Williams line: 1IP, 0H, 0R, 0BB, 2K
Jared Jones: 3-for-3, HR, 3RBI, 3R, 2BB
Ethan Frey: 3-for-4, 2B, 2RBI, 2R, BB
Derek Curiel: Reached for the 38th consecutive game
LSU was 13-for-33 (.394) in the game
LSU was 8-for-19 (.421) with runners on base
LSU was 5-for-13 (.385) with runners in scoring position
McNeese struck out 15 times. Eight of the nine players in the starting lineup struck out.
LSU only punched out four times.
WHAT’S NEXT
LSU hosts Alabama in a Thursday-Friday-Saturday series. The Tide beat UAB 5-3 on Tuesday after dropping 2-of-3 to Mississippi State in Tuscaloosa over the weekend.
Alabama is now 30-8, 8-7.
